River Street Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

River Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 3.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 170,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,965,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,199,000 after purchasing an additional 245,829 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.8% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 8.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 36,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,176,000 after buying an additional 2,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded up $2.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $176.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,174,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,687,689. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $84.03 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $44.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $147.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.91.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Profile

Discover Financial Services, through its subsidiaries, provides digital banking products and services, and payment services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Digital Banking and Payment Services. The Digital Banking segment offers Discover-branded credit cards to individuals; personal loans, home loans, and other consumer lending; and direct-to-consumer deposit products comprising savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, IRA certificates of deposit, IRA savings accounts and checking accounts, and sweep accounts.